I had the 17-85. It was fine relative to others when it first came out, not worth repairing in my opinion.

If you want to spend a lot more, the 15-85 IS is a no-brainer. It's about 695.00 in the USA on Amazon. Much better sharpness, less chromatic aberration , better zoom range, IS, etc etc. I had rented it along with an even more expensive 24-105L, and was impressed.

I understand you may not want to go that high, I'd explore some of the Sigma offerings in the 17-70'ish zoom range. I had one that unfortunately got damaged due to my own carelessness, but was happy with it.